You know the world is off balance when the best rapper is white, the best golfer is black, the tallest basketball player is Chinese, the French call America arrogant, and the Germans don't want to go to war.
* * *
I watched "Married by America" last night. I have definitely been watching too much TV lately. Anyway, neither couple decided to actually get married which was a relief. Although, they didn't sound any more indecisive than a lot of couples. Maybe having the wedding on TV does make people think more about what they are doing. I was a little surprised that they decided to pass up 1/2 million dollars by not tying the knot. There was one woman who did seem genuinely in love, but her mate was not. Frankly, she can do much better, but I'm sure that doesn't lessen the pain of being stood up before her family and friends, not to mention all the TV viewers.
* * *
All of these reality shows remind me of a great book written by Ray Bradbury; Farenheit 451 which I think was written in the 50's. The main theme of the book was that firemen in the future were called to burn books which had been outlawed. Farenheit 451 is the temperature that paper burns. The firemen would race to the scene with kerosene tanks to burn all the books and restore order to the world. For you see, books might make people think, which would lead them to a melancholy life rather than the happiness provided by the "Television Families". As a a sub-theme there was a description of how in the future, people would have giant television screens that would cover the walls of their homes. TV would be interactive and people would be part of the shows that they watched. Much of the programming was reality based since the TV viewer would be part of the action. Sometimes there would be news programs that would follow someone being chased for breaking the law, hiding books in their attics for instance. The TV show would follow the chase until the culprit was caught. The police had a ready list of vagrants and people who liked to walk outside at night. They would sometimes apprehend someone from their list, if they couldn't catch the real criminal. After all, it wouldn't be a tidy conclusion if someone escaped. Guy Montag is one of the firemen. He becomes more and more skeptical of the value of his job. He eventually becomes a criminal by saving books and joins a tribe that memorizes books for use sometime in the future. His wife who has been brainwashed by her TV family is the person who turns him in to authorities. Thankfully, we haven't reached the stage where society has outlawed books, but TV is becoming more and more reality-based. The bad part is that too often that reality is manipulated by the networks to increase ratings. The reality shows are no more real than the situation comedies, hour-long dramas, and game shows that they're replacing. I don't remember who said that TV is a wasteland, but even with over 100 channels it seems to become more so each year.